Lawyers: Edmonson retirement boost unconstitutional

BATON ROUGE – A legal analysis says a big retirement boost for Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, was passed in an unconstitutional manner.

A nine-page legal letter recommends that the Louisiana State Police Retirement System refuse to pay enhanced benefits to Edmonson, an Alexandria native, and Master Trooper Louis Boquet of Houma, the only employees who benefit under the law.

The boost, valued at $300,000 over five years for the pair, was added to a bill that had nothing to do with retirement benefits. The analysis finds the bill violates the state Constitution because proper notice wasn't given and because it doesn't meet requirements for a bill to have "one object."

Edmonson reiterated that he has no intention of taking advantage of the enhanced benefits. The report says Boquet has declined as well.

Edmonson said he would ask the board at its next meeting to take whatever steps are necessary to have the law legally declared unconstitutional, and would ask legislators in the next session to repeal or fix the law.

Edmonson decried those who keep the pension story in news, saying they are "politicizing for their own benefit."

The retirement system board is supposed to consider the analysis Sept. 4. The board sought legal advice from pension system expert Robert Klausner, of Plantation, Florida, and Denise Akers, the system's lawyer.

State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, a pension board member who pushed for the investigation, said in a prepared statement Friday that he has more questions and is "embarrassed and disappointed that this law is on the books."

The change deals with decisions years ago by Edmonson and Boquet to participate in the former Deferred Retirement Option Plan, called DROP.

A trooper had to make a decision whether to enter DROP at 25 years of service or 50 years of age. DROP allowed troopers to continue to work even though they were eligible for retirement. The downside was the troopers didn't get full credit in their pension checks if they started receiving higher salaries after entering DROP.

Edmonson took DROP as a captain. As a result of the law change, Edmonson would be able to receive lifelong pension payments based on the calculation of his higher colonel's pay of $135,000 a year. That's more than he would have received at captain's pay, where it was frozen because of his DROP decision.